Dr. Antonia (Toni) Neubauer has been traveling to Nepal since 1983. Twenty years ago, she asked a casual question of a Nepalese guide: “What is the one thing you would like to see in your village?” When she got the answer “a library,” Toni sprang into action. A former language teacher and education researcher, she had directed major studies on literacy and school-business partnerships in the US and served as a consultant to the Pew Foundation, Lilly Endowment and the U.S. Department of Education. Founding READ Global was what she had to do. Today dozens of self-sustaining, community-chosen, READ Community Library and Resource Centers dot the landscapes of 3 countries, thanks to her energy and forward-thinking take on rural needs and village abilities.